Illinois State University President, Dr. Larry Dietz, Shares Ideas, Insights With Southland College Prep Charter High School Seniors

Posted by richard barry, Community Contributor

Illinois State University president Dr. Larry Dietz and Dr. Blondean Davis, Southland College Prep CEO and superintendent of Matteson School District 162 are pictured with the Southland seniors who have been accepted to ISU.

Illinois State University president Dr. Larry Dietz and Dr. Blondean Davis, Southland College Prep CEO and superintendent of Matteson School District 162 are pictured with the Southland seniors who have been accepted to ISU. (Posted by richard barry, Community Contributor)

RICHTON PARK, ILL.-October 4, 2017-Bonds between the oldest public university in Illinois and one of the state's newest public charter high schools were celebrated today when Dr. Larry Dietz, president of Illinois State University, visited with the senior class of Southland College Prep Charter High School.

"Our two schools, one a university whose charter was signed by Abraham Lincoln; the other a young public charter high school, share the common culture of having a learning community environment," Dr. Dietz, who has served as ISU's president for four years, said.

In welcoming Dr. Dietz to Southland, Dr. Blondean Davis, CEO and superintendent of Matteson Elementary District 162, noted that, "We're one family of seven elementary schools and a public charter high school that have been privileged over the years to have numerous links with Illinois State University, an institution consistently ranked among the top 100 public universities in the U.S.

"Southland College Prep's latest connection with ISU are the 46 members of the class of 2018 who recently were admitted to the university," she said.

After being welcomed by senior Dejah Morris, Southland College Prep's choir, under the direction of Dr. Stirling Culp, previewed a Christmas holiday number. The school's band, directed by Joseph Lawrence, delivered a stirring rendition of an orchestral piece made famous by tenor Luciano Pavarotti.

During his dialog with Southland's class of 2018, Dr. Dietz shared his own modest roots of growing up on a southern Illinois farm with his mother, an elementary school teacher and father, a farmer who had an eighth-grade education. He noted that never in his wildest dreams did he believe when he was a high school student that someday he would be president of a 21,000-student enrollment university.

President Dietz noted that ISU's five pillars are scholarship, diversity, civic engagement, individualized attention and integrity. He described Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois, where six academic colleges offer 59 majors as "a large institution with a small school atmosphere." . He explained that one-third of ISU's undergraduates incur no student debt, a tribute to alumni who help fund scholarships. The school's average student debt is $ 5,000 less than national figures and its loan default rate is 2.5 percent, considerably less than the national average of 11.6 percent.

"This means that ISU graduates are receiving a quality education, successfully landing jobs and have the integrity to pay back student loans," he said.

In response to a question from a senior, Dr. Dietz, drawing on his previous experience as ISU's vice president for student affairs, encouraged the students to consider joining two extra-curricular activities during their undergraduate college years--"one related to their major; and the other just for fun to complement your personality and interests."

In addition to Illinois State University, representatives of other prominent colleges and universities who have requested an opportunity to visit with Southland College Prep Charter High School seniors this fall, include such schools as: Yale, Vanderbilt, Cornell, Northwestern, University of Pennsylvania, University of Michigan, University of Virginia, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Chicago and others.

Historic Black Colleges and Universities like Morehouse College and Fisk University as well as liberal arts institutions such as Carleton, Knox, and Coe also are scheduled to visit with Southland College Prep seniors.

Southland College Prep Charter High School, housed in a repurposed former insurance company's call center building, opened in August of 2010. It is the only public charter secondary school to serve Chicago suburbs. Southland's enrollment is capped at 530 students by the Illinois State Charter School Commission.

Admission to Southland is on a non-discriminatory basis with respect to race, ethnicity, disability and religious preference.

Enrollment is non-selective and students enter a well-publicized annual public Lottery to earn one of the 530 seats at Southland.

Southland College Prep Charter High School is focused on preparing all of its graduates to enter and to earn a bachelor's degree from a four-year college or university.

Southland College Prep operates on a European-Asian school model nine-hour school day from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. five days a week. The college prep curriculum is rigorous with a strong emphasis on math, science, technology, language and fine arts. After school extra-curricular activities include sports, speech and forensics, band, chorus, dance and service projects.

Students earn 30 credit hours; eight more than are typically required of traditional high school graduates.

Demographic information regarding Southland's students is reflective of the communities in which the students live. Currently, 95% of Southland's students are African American, 1% is Hispanic, less than 1% is Asian, 1% is White, and 2% are identified as "Other." Sixty percent of Southland's students are economically disadvantaged as measured by the federal school lunch program. Some 9.5% of Southland's students receive special education services.

Southland College Prep Charter High School's Record of Achievement

Southland is achieving its goals of ensuring that 100 percent of Southland's graduates will be admitted to colleges and universities of their choice and that they will have the financial resources to make college attendance a reality.

Southland's graduates have been accepted by top colleges and universities in the U.S., including seven of the eight Ivy League schools and 38 of the top 50 schools ranked by U.S. News & World Report.In a recent comparative study by the Illinois Network of Charter Schools, Southland College Prep ranked number one for ACT performance, attendance and graduation rate among all Illinois non-selective enrollment high schools with a 75% or greater African-American student enrollment and a 50% or greater rate of students qualifying for free/reduced lunch.

The first four Southland College Prep graduating classes of 2014-17 were offered more than $75 million in merit scholarships to many top U.S. colleges and universities where they are now enrolled.

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